Please can someone tell me if the rear wheel bearings for a 2003 Toyota RunX are really hard to find or not! Nearly 2 months ago my car started making a noise and so the mechanic at my friends work looked at it and said it needed a new wheel bearing, and that if I paid for the part, he would fit it. I went to Super Cheap and Repco and they said the part would cost around $320-360, as it needed a whole big hub thing and they would have to order it in. So, long story short (this has now dragged on for nearly 2 months), the wheel bearing still hasnt been fixed because the mechanic said he has tried the bearing parts Super Cheap, Repco, BnT and Appco got in and they were all wrong.He said he even tried to find a second hand hub with no luck.Apparently now the hub thing is at a mechanical engineers to be taken apart to have new bearings put inside or somethinglike that. I hate to think what the end cost of this will be. I'm really grateful to the mechanic for offering to help me out with fixing my car but am baffled why its taking so long and has been so hard to get the part. One of the reasons I bought the car was because they are one of the most popular cars around and I figured parts would be readily available. Is this a common problem with these cars! Is the other bearing on the other side likely to need fixed soon! Thanks.
datoofairy,
Mar 16, 9:38pm
The problem is the mechanic keeps telling me he cannot get a replacement wheel bearing hub part for my car and now has to get bits manufactured or altered to get the car on the road again. Are wheel bearing for Toyota Runx's usually so difficult to get!
hijacka,
Mar 16, 9:41pm
sounds like the problem is being fix after 2years, so yeah what is the problem! Some bearing kits come complete with the hub and some just come as a bearing witch needs to be pressed on.to the hub. How long has the mechanic had it for! Perhaps the mechanic didn't know what bearing to get just by going from make and model so he had to take the old one out to find the correct part!
datoofairy,
Mar 16, 9:47pm
It hasnt been 2 years. The car first started making a noise 2 months ago and the mechanic looked at it the same day I noticed the noise and has been trying to find a replacement hub for it ever since. The problem is I havent been able to use my car for nearly 2 months and I dont understand why itsproving to be such a major task for the mechanic to source the wheel bearing on such a common car. I'm just trying to determine if I'm being unreasonable to be feeling very frustrated after waiting for it to be fixed for so long. I had hoped someone could clarify why this part is so difficult to come by.
biddy6,
Mar 16, 9:52pm
I think everyone has tried to get the right bearing for you, but no luck, so your mechanic friend is doing the next best thing for you. However your Q "how difficult is it to get the correct wheel bearing", hasn't been answered yet.
hijacka,
Mar 16, 9:53pm
2MONTHS!Sesh!you are patient. i would have been in his face after 2 days. You have a right to be frustrated!
datoofairy,
Mar 16, 10:00pm
Its been a very long 2 months :o( Well I am obviously no mechanic, I wouldnt say I was completely clueless about cars and did once work in a garage. It was this tiny bit of knowledge that helped me decide to buy the Toyota, thinking parts would be easy enough to source. Now I'm wondering if I've made a huge mistake.I dread to think what this will cost and it'll be my luck the other side will fall to bits soon after.
lk104,
Mar 16, 10:09pm
Change your mechanic, the Rear Wheel Bearing Hub is available new, we have them in stock and are selling for $520.00. No they are arent cheap, but they are a complete Hub and Bearing.
littlebob7,
Mar 16, 10:13pm
HiThe book I have says"theHub & bearingmust be replaced as a unit " In other wordsyou cannotjust removethe worn out bearing from the hub& replace it ( bearing only )-- I wonder if your mechanicis getting the hub machined so he can fit a standard / off the shelf bearing !
pandai,
Mar 16, 10:23pm
I wonder what the Toyota dealer might charge.They'd at least have them though.
lk104,
Mar 16, 10:25pm
Ive just quoted it - $520
pandai,
Mar 16, 10:34pm
Oh, should have checked your profile!
Haha
dent,
Mar 16, 11:20pm
guess he didnt try genuine then huh.
boojum,
Mar 17, 12:19am
Maybe he should have tried genuine first.Could have saved so much hassle and got the right part first time.
jcwholesale,
Mar 17, 12:38am
He is just trying to save you some money. He probably knew about the genuine one. $520.00 bucks for a wheel bearing is obscene. Put it in perspective, it is 5% of the value of the car. That is $520.00 plus fitting, plus freight, plus grease, plus consumables. You cant put a value on the hub as that is ok, it is just that it is supplied as a hub & bearing, so what you are buying really is a bearing. The same or similar bearing is probably less than $50.00, so a bit of machining to fit a similar one is probably going to be cheaper. Franchise's are bloody thieves. From cost to retail will be well in excess of 100% as they know there is know after market bearing. Designed like that for people like you
datoofairy,
Mar 17, 2:06am
Thank you, that was what I was wanting to know.I am grateful to the mechanic, its just been very frustrating not knowing what was happening.I love my car and I miss having it.
hijacka,
Mar 17, 2:14am
Perhaps you should mention to your mechanic about your new findings here then see if its going to be worth getting the geniune hub in so you can have your car back.
datoofairy,
Mar 17, 2:22am
Is anyone able to give me a rough idea what it will cost to fix it this way, please!
hijacka,
Mar 17, 2:23am
More than $500
datoofairy,
Mar 17, 2:25am
Fark, really!HHmm. there goes my theory of Toyota parts being cheaper!
hijacka,
Mar 17, 2:31am
Yup sorry to say but the mucking around of such a job can get very time consuming and costly.Just pay for the genuine one, slap it in and get your car back. Sounds like the inconvenience of not having the car out weighs the cost of a $500 replacement part. Just a side note, try bulter or bnt for the hub/bearing aswell. you might surprise yourself and find a cheaper available item.
datoofairy,
Mar 17, 2:43am
Thanks heaps everyone for your replies. I dont feel so frustrated now that I have a rough idea whats happening with it and why. I think the hub went to the engineers on Monday so it may well have already been done, I will hopefully know by the weekend. God, I hope the other one lasts a while.
lk104,
Mar 17, 2:48pm
Yes $520 for a Bearing would be obscene, but as stated its NOT just a Bearing, its a Hub and Bearing. You're an egg if you think they make 100%, that just shows your ignorance. You are very naive if you think franchises are thieves. Shop around you will be surprised at how competitive dealers are, but make sure you compare with apples with apples.
intrade,
Jul 29, 6:16pm
i bet you can order 10,000 units from chinafor 15$ useachthe problem isyou got to purchase the 10 tousend units and ship em and import em and store em after also till they are sold. I support spear parts dealer who passon the cheap prices . but you can be sure ifrepco gets a hold of them parts that where wholesale 70$ theywill charge 520$ and pocket the profits.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.